Loving Math

It's always so nice to hear these stories about educators who truly go above and beyond in order to make sure their students learn. They seem to take insurmountable odds and turn things around in order to create an atmosphere where all students can learn. 
Reading these articles also makes me think of what am I not doing, why my classroom doesn't look like hers. I have only been teaching a year and a half but already my view of the education system is so different than when I came in. I've seen how slow to change educational policies can be and I've also seen how a staff of a school can make the best of a dysfunctional administration.

We try to do the best we can with what we have but it is so hard not to get swept up in teaching to the test and all of the minutiae of teaching, like conferences, grading, district policies, etc.

This article was a good reminder than there's more to teaching than district policies. That I am in this profession because of the opportunity it gives me to turn students on to learning and that at the end of the day my students need to be my number one priority. It also reminded me that I need to provide students with multiple opportunities to attempt to understand the material being presented to them. I really liked how Ms. Hagan gives her students the opportunity to retake an exam over and over again until they pass and it is something that I will begin implementing in my own classroom. I feel like it really shows students  that failure is just a natural part of life that they can overcome and that the only true failure is not trying to do better and take advantage of the opportunities presented to them.